This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by MacIntosh, D. S. Articles by Camfield, C. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by MacIntosh, D. S. Articles by Camfield, C. S. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Children With Familial Cryptogenic Epilepsy Have a Favorable Seizure Prognosis

Department of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University Medical School, IWK Grace Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Peter R. Camfield, MD, FRCPC

Department of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University Medical School, IWK Grace Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Carol S. Camfield, MD, FRCPC

Department of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University Medical School, IWK Grace Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia

We examined the prognosis for children with epilepsy not conforming to a genetic syndrome, who also had close relatives with epilepsy. Probands, with no identified cause for epilepsy except a first-degree relative with epilepsy, were identified from a population-based cohort of 504 children in Nova Scotia, with onset of seizures between 1977 and 1985. The primary outcome measure was seizure remission after an average of 15 years follow-up for probands (n = 27) and 26 years for their affected relatives (n = 32). Of probands, 92% were seizure free for 3 or more years at the end of follow-up, compared with 76% of relatives. When seizures began before age 12 years, 96% of probands and 94% of affected relatives were seizure free at the end of follow-up. There was little concordance for the details of the clinical course between probands and affected family members. This high level of remission was considerably better than for similar patients from the original Nova Scotian cohort (P < .02). We conclude that children with epilepsy not conforming to a well-defined genetic syndrome, but with an affected first-degree relative, have a remarkably good prognosis. (J Child Neurol 1998; 13:372-376).

Journal of Child Neurology, Vol. 13, No. 8, 372-376 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/088307389801300802


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. J. Dlugos, M. D. Sammel, B. L. Strom, and J. T. Farrar Response to first drug trial predicts outcome in childhood temporal lobe epilepsy Neurology, December 26, 2001; 57(12): 2259 - 2264. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M R JOHNSON, M R JOHNSON, J W A S SANDER, and J W A S SANDER The clinical impact of epilepsy genetics J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, April 1, 2001; 70(4): 428 - 430. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]